Aprii- 6, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
43 r 
The Fish of Greenwood Lake. 
Paterson, N. J., iSIarch Editor Forest and 
Stream: A few weeks spent at Greenwood 
Lake last fall brought me to the conclusion that 
the question most frequently asked at that popu¬ 
lar resort is, “What is the matter with Green¬ 
wood Lake?” Fishing at the lake is not as good 
as it was some years ago, and that the sport of 
taking the' big-mouth bass is in a woeful state 
of decadence. In point of numbers the small- 
mouth bass are still doing pretty well, but a 
notched stick indicating six inches in length is 
kept convenient by most guides and is frequently 
made use of to determine the fate of struggling 
fish. 
stimulus upon the epidermal cells of the host 
which causes them to undergo a rapid prolifi- 
ration. 
"The fishes when first placed in contact with 
glochidia give evidence of great irritation and 
as soon as the gills begin to be infected, they 
exhibit violent and rapid breathing movements, 
apparently in the attempt to expel the parasites. 
After a time, however, they become quiet, and, 
when removed from the presence of the glo¬ 
chidia, behave normally, except that the more 
rapid respiratory movements may continue even 
for days afterward. 
"The fishes we have used in our experiments 
have shown marked differences in their ability 
tion. Young bullheads are apparently very diffi 
cult to infect, and we have not succeeded in caus¬ 
ing glochidia to become attached to either their 
gills or fins in appreciable numbers.” 
The food of mussels consists of minute in¬ 
sects and vegetable matter to be found in the 
water, the food necessary for the support of 
the lives of the minor forms of fish life on 
which the higher class of fish depend for food. 
If in addition to the damage thus done the lives 
of fish are destroyed by over-infection from 
glochidia, might it not perhaps be safe to assume 
that the reduced numbers of fish in Greenwood 
Lake may be directly traceable to the large num¬ 
bers of mussels? The fact that the glochidia 
would find more ready lodgment on the gills 
of the more slow-moving large-mouth bass 
than its more agile congener, the small-mouth 
variety, might account for the reduced number 
of the large-mouth bass. I know of no eco¬ 
nomic value of the mussels in Greenwood Lake. 
WARDEN WELCH OF CAIlfORNIA AND JAPANESE FISH NETS CONFISCATED BY HIM. 
While the perplexing question above referred 
to may not be answered definitely, no more per¬ 
haps than a farmer can tell why his apple trees 
should be prolific one year and produce a small 
crop the succeeding year, yet I presume it is per¬ 
missible in your columns to offer guesses as to 
what may perhaps be a proper answer. There 
is just as much and as good water as there ever 
was. Pollution does not cut much of a figure; 
bass are just as prolific in spawning as they 
ever were, and the increased number of anglers 
is hardly in proportion to the decrease in the 
volume of sport. Perhaps the best guess is the 
exhaustion of the food supply, and I believe 
it is axiomatic among fishculturists that a sheet 
of water will produce a number of fish in direct 
proportion to the amount of the food supply. 
While I was at the lake I was informed by a 
number of the residents there that the number 
of mussels in the lake had increased until that 
number has become what our English cousins 
would call prodigious. From the Bulletin of the 
Bureau of Fisheries for 1908, page 621, et seq., 
I copy the following: 
"Two well-marked types of glochidia [i e., 
mussel seed] occur in the LInionidie, one pro¬ 
vided with stout hooks on the ventral margin of 
the valves and the other entirely hookless. The 
former are characteristic parasitic on the'fins 
and other external parts of the fish, the latter 
on the gills. 
“The hookless type is by far the commoner 
one, and, furthermore, practically all the com¬ 
mercial species of m.ussels belong to the genera 
included in this class. 
“Hookless glochidia are only rarely found on 
the external parts of the fish, and although they 
become attached readily to such places, their 
grasp is insecure, and the usual consequence is 
that they all are soon brushed off. Being hook¬ 
less and quite small, they are admirably adapted 
to lodgment on the gill filaments, among which 
they may become attached in great numbers. 
“Contact with any part of the fish affords 
the stimulus which causes the adductor muscle 
of the glochidium to contract and close the 
valves. This stimulus is a purely mechanical 
one, as the same result may be produced by 
touching with any object. In this way they may 
be caused to snap shut on a bristle or hair, or 
on the edge of a piece of paper. Once attached 
to the fish, however, the glochidium exerts a 
to retain the glochidia both on the fins and on 
the gills, more especially on the latter. They 
vary even more strikingly with respect to their 
capacity for withstanding the injurious effects 
of gill infection, and furthermore some fishes 
are undoubtedly much more susceptible than 
others, as the glochidia become attached, espe¬ 
cially to the gills, more readily. 
“Of the fishes which we have had under ob¬ 
servation, the following species have proved to 
be the most satisfactory: Rock bass, large and 
small-mouth black bass, green sunfish and red- 
spotted sunfish. All of these species are very 
suspectible and readily infected with gill para¬ 
sites, large numbers of which may be carried 
without apparent injury to the fish. A single 
individual of any of the above mentioned fishes, 
not more than three or four inches in length, 
will successfully carry at least 1,000 glochidia on 
its gills at the close of the parasite period, a 
number that would speedily kill many other 
species. 
“Yellow perch, blue-gilled sunfish and crappie, 
although quite susceptible, are far less resistant 
to the injury and quickly succumb to over-infec¬ 
They are permitted to remain and to breed year 
after year without any interference from human 
agency. If we assume that the glochidia inter¬ 
fere with the food of the small fish and the 
existence of the larger, might not an answer 
be found to the question, “’VVhat is the matter 
with Greenwood Lake?” The mussels may have 
a commercial value and perhaps some manufac¬ 
turers of buttons and the like articles might be 
glad to avail themselves of an opportunity for 
removing them. At any rate, the experiment of 
removing large numbers of the mussels would 
be comparatively inexpensive and might be at¬ 
tained with good results. 
Another inhabitant of Greenwood Lake, which 
may do its share toward the depletion of the 
fish dear to the heart of the angler, is the bull¬ 
head. In an article on this fish, Forbes and 
Richardson say: 
“The food of thirteen specimens examined by 
us was unusually simple for that of a catfish, 
consisting chiefly of small bivalve mollusks, 
larvae of insects taken upon the bottom, distil¬ 
lery slops and accidental rubbish. One of the 
specimens had eaten eighteen leeches, leeches 
